Need help sticking to a budget.?
Answers:
Putting the budget in writing is helpful. Also paying cash that is available helps to quantify what is actually being spent. Only spend cash and only the cash you have. Things that are longer term should be cash-put-in-an-envelope labelled with that purpose. This is a very low-tech method, but likely to work if you both agree to only spend the cash you have.
Wish you the best!
DO I WANT I? OR NEED IT?
when we hit the constant overdrawn stage for months in a row, we took a weekend, made an itemized budget, then lived on a cash-only basis. if we didn't have money, we didn't get whatever it was. brought us to reality in a hurry, and got us thinking about what we spent money on (and why). especially true with kids. kids are great, but not cheap.
Leave your credit cards at home. Use cash in most cases. Make daily commitments. You see and like something and just ask your self do you really need it or can you do without this. Stop using your debit card and use only on big purchases. It is better to pay late. It is cheaper than paying Overdraft fees. Keep a Journal of all your payments put a due date/ amount / and paid date for all your payments. Remember that the most important thing is to think hard before you spend. A dollar here and a dollar there you know.
Pretty simple... look at all of the overdraft charges you are paying every month. Think of how much more stuff you could get if you had that much money added to your budget.
Note: If you pay interest on $4000 a month on a credit card at 20%... you will bey paying $80 a month in interest and it will take you up to 40 YEARS to pay it off if you quit making new charges.
$80 a month goes a long way toward groceries.
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Turn off the cable for the TV. Turn off satellite too.
cut your internet down to a minimalist $9.95 a month service.
Quit using the cell phone(s) and cancel them if they aren't still under contract (might be cheaper to pay the early termination fees...)
Get rid of the unnecessary expenses. Learn to talk to each other.
And... don't go buying a new car until you can afford to pay cash for it. When your current car is more than 7 yrs old... cut off the comprehensive and collision coverages.
Get it to where you are putting money in savings every month rather than going broke...
send me your money
What worked for me is a verse in the bible. It is in the book of matthew (in the new testament) chapter 5 verse 21. Let your yes be yes and no be no. Devise your own budget and stick to it. One thing I stress is to always leave a little play money for yourselves. Me and my girlfriend like to eat out at fancy restaurants, so what we do to have enough for the bill and for the cost not to eat into our budget, is to save 50 dollars for two consecutive weeks and then go out to eat, with our hundred dollars.
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